Can opener



De. 1930.. 1 KOVATS .1,785,384

CAN OPENE R Filed Sept. 26. 1927 Patented Dec. 16, 1930 UNITED STATES.. PATENT oFFlc-E JOHN KOVATS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO LORRAINE METAL MANO'- FACTURING COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK CAN OPENER Application filed September 26, 1927. Serial No.A 221,924.

no projecting rough edges on which the operator may be injured, and which might interfere with the removal of the contents from the can.

1,0. With the foregoing and other objects in view, I have devised the construction illus- `trated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification. In this drawing,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the opener in the first positionl on the can as it is being applied, al portion of the can being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the opener corresponding to the position of Fig. 1 looking from the left of this figure and showing the top wall of the can in section.

Fig.,3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the cutter in cutting position.

l Fig. 4 is a side elevation looking from the. 5 left of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a detail section. A portion of the can side wall is shown at 10 and the top or end. wall at f11, which is usually-folded over the end of the side Wall providing a flange 12, and the outer fold 13 lies against the outer surface of the side wall. My improved opener cooperates with the under or free edge of this fold and the top edge of the ange to hold the cutter in proper position and to advance the same for removing the top or end wall of the can.

This opener comprises a support 14 which is in upright position when the opener is applied to the can, and rotatably mounted in this support is a toothed wheel 15 having notches providing teeth in .its periphery to engage under the free edge of the' fold 13, and as the edges of the teeth are sharp they are embedded'more `or less into the relatively soft metal of the fold to provide `a suiiicient grip for positively operating the cutter. The wheel 15 is mounted on the extension 16 of a winged operating member 17. This extension is reduced to provide shoulders 18 as shown in Fig. 5, theextension 16-being wider than its thickness, and seated on the shoulder 18 is a Washer 19. Next to this washer is a, bushing 20 and outside this bushing is another Washer 21, and the wheel 15 is next to this Washer'. The free end of the extension 16 is riveted over as indicated at 22, so as to secure these' elements to the wing member, each of the members 19, 20, 21 and 15 having non-circular openings t-o receive the extension 16 and Will thus rotate with the wing member 17 The bushing 20 is mounted in an opening in the support 14, and therefore, forms a bearing in this support for the wheel and its operating means 17.

Pivoted to the support 14 at a suitable distance from the wheel and its operating, means is a cutter 23. This cutter is mounted on a transverse pivot stud 24 which may be either a screw bolt as shown, or may be a. lrivet if preferred. This cutter has a knife edge 25 which terminates in a point 26, and

connected to this cutter is a handle 27. This handle may be in one piece with the cutter, but as the knife should be spaced inwardly aproper distance from the support 14 it is preferred to make this handle a' separate member and pivot it on the stud 24 between the cutter and the support 14. The body of the cutterl may have a laterally extending iiange 28 to engage over one edge of the handle so thatin effect the handle is rigidly connected to the cutter so that the two will swing together on the pivot stud. If desiredthe handle may be provided (with a bottle opener 29 at its free end. The support 14 also carries a guide 30 which extends laterally inward from the support so as to rest on the top edge of the flange 12 and form a guide for the opene in operation. To simplify construction t e rear edge of thesupport 14 is cut as shown at 31, and the portion ofthe wall within the cut is bent laterally to form the guide 30. This guide also extends beyond the inner edge of the flange 12 so as to engage a, shoulder 32 on the rear of the knife engages thel underedge of the fold 13 the gulde 30 will rest on top of the flange 12 and the point 26 with a portion of the cutting blade will extend through the top or end wall 11 of the can. This is the `operative cutting position.

The operation is as follows :The knife andl The free end of the handle is then swung* upwardly to the right or clockwise as viewed in Flg. 2, to bring the point 26 of the cutter into engagement with the top or end wall 11 of the can as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Only suilicient pressure is needed on the lever to cause the point to extend into the metal of the wall slightly or enough so that the knife will not slide around on the top of the wall. If while the cutter is held in this position the wing member 17 is rotated counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 2, the action ofthe wheel on the fold 13 will move the support 14 to the right. as viewed in this figure. v However, as the point of the cutter engages the top wall of the can so that it cannot slide on this top wallthis movement of the support will swing the cutter and handle clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 2, to the upright position of Figs. 3

and 4. This movement will force the point and part of the knife edge through the top or end wall of the can, as indicated in Figs.

-3 and 4., and this turning movement of the cutter under the action of the can wallA is limited by engagement of the shoulder 32 at the rear of the cutter against the guide stop 30. Therefore, the cutter and handle cannot swing in the clockwise direction beyond the upright position of Figs. 3 and 4, and continued movement of the support 14 to the right as the wheel 15 is further rotated will 'advance the cutter and will cut the end ,wall

11 from the can.

It will be noted from the drawing that the knife portion of the cutter 23 extends below the top or flange 12 `and is located closely adjacent the inner wall of this flange,.so thatafter the elements are brought to the position of Figs. 3 and 4 this knife `guides the device around the can on the inner side of the flange while the operating wheel 15 goes around the outer side of the can, and the co.- 'operation of the wheel and the guide 30 with the shoulders on the flange keeps the. elements at the proper height. Therefore, after the elements are brought to the position of Figs. 3

support adjacent the inner wall of the flan e 12, and as the wall is cut the rear portion o the knife flattens the cut edge 33 of the top wall left on the can against the inner side wall of the can so'that there is no rough or sharp edge left on which a person handling the can may be injured, and there is also no inwardly proj ecting wall left to interfere with the removal of the contents of the can. It will be noted from Figs. 2 and 4 that the guide 30 rests on the top of the flange 12 to the rear of the wheel 15 and the cutter, so that tendency of,

the support 14 to turn as the wing memberl Y 17 is operated will tend to press'the guide 30 0n the top wall and press the teeth on the wheel 15 against the under edge of the fold 13 insuring that there is no slippage of the wheel in operation and that rotation of the wheel will, give a positive movement of the device forwardly around the periphery of the can to give a complete clean cut. After the end wall is completely cut from the can, if the wing member 17 is merely given a partial revolution in the opposite direction or clockwise as viewed in Fig. 4, the cutterand handle will swingk counterclockwise to the horizontal position relieving its grip on the flange of the can and permitting easy removal of the device from the can.

Having thus set forth the nature of vmy invention, what I claim is: In a can opener, an upright. support, 'an upright toothed wheel mounted in the lower part of'said support to engage under the outer side of the flange at the end of the can, a nger iece for operating said wheel, said aving a lateral guide and stop to extend inwardly over and engage the top of the yflange to the rear ofthe wheel, a lever pivoted to the support above the wheel to swing in an upright plane, and a cut-teron said lever infront of the guide having a point to pierce the can and an inclined cutting edge forwardly of the point to cut the end of the can after thepoint is forced through it, said cutter also havin a'lateral flange extending over one edge of t e lever to cause the cutter to turn with the lever, said lever being mounted between the cutter and the support to spaceA and 4 no further manual guiding of the device is necessary, and the cutting operation is completed by merely rotating the wing member 17 to operate the wheel 15. This cutter cuts the top or end wall of the can closely 

